In the United States strict disclosure enforcement and minority shareholders' suits limit the ability of large shareholders to extract private benefits. For instance, in 1980 Playboy Enterprises (which later became a dual-class company) was charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission for "failing to make adequate disclosures about $2 million in corporate perquisites." The company was found "unable to demonstrate the precise corporate benefits derived from such expenditures" [The Wall Street Journal, August 14, 1980]. Similarly, in the case of Resorts International, the company where the largest differential takeover premium was paid, minority shareholders sued the company's management for waste of corporate resources. In both cases the companies chose to settle. Such suits are unheard of, or even impossible, in many countries. For example, in Italy disclosure enforcement is, to say the least, lax, and a majority vote is required to sue the management. As a result, minority shareholders' lawsuits are, by definition, impossible. Not surprisingly, Zingales [1994] finds that private benefits account for at least 30 percent of the value of dividends in that country.
This provides a new perspective on the importance of disclosure enforcement and shareholders' suits. For instance, by looking at a sample of derivative suits, Romano [1991] provides a somewhat negative picture of shareholders' litigation in the United States. What this paper suggests is that looking at what happens in those countries where such suits cannot be brought may provide a better assessment of the value of these legal institutions.
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